


heavy is the head that wears the crown

by dopaminekeeper



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Arranged Marriage, Collars, Dirty Talk, Flogging, Heavy BDSM, Impact Play, Jealousy, M/M, Rough Oral Sex, Under-negotiated Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dopaminekeeper/pseuds/dopaminekeeper
Summary: kang yuchan - playboy son of the kang family - is scooped up from his old life of fucking around and betrothed to the crown prince donghun.  both parties learn to defy the other's expectations.
Relationships: Kang Yuchan | Chan/Lee Donghun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	heavy is the head that wears the crown

**Author's Note:**

> this is an incredibly self-indulgent fic i wrote a couple years ago with OCs and decided to finally put out in the world, so i reworked it with these beautiful boys!!!! i hope u like it!!!

Kang Yuchan's pretty sure he's never seen a place this big, let alone been invited inside.

The halls are opulent, gold along every surface and mirrors along the walls that throw his reflection back at him — too scruffy, too unkempt for a place this nice. He pulls at his collar, wishes for the comfort of his leather jacket and torn tank-top.

It’s the polar opposite of where he was just a week ago, drinking in run-down spaceports on the outer edge of this arm of the galaxy. He’d been in bed with a truly beautiful Jacobean boy when his parents’ agents had found him and brought him back to his family’s estate on Bonides, a few planets away, kicking and screaming only to find out that he’d been betrothed to some prince he’d never met before. He wishes desperately that this could all be a dream, that he could close his eyes and open them and still be there in that seedy motel with that gorgeous boy, but —

“Again, Yuchan.”

His mother’s voice is cold and commanding (which comes in handy in her job as an interplanetary diplomat, less so as a mother). Her heels click on the floors. He sighs.

“I go in when we’re announced, I bow to him, I don’t say anything stupid.”

_“Yuchan.”_

“Fine! I don’t say anything stupid _and_ I smile. Happy?” They stop in front of a pair of huge doors, lined with curling metal engravings. They look like real wood, not the cheap synth-wood that’s so common, and Yuchan thinks absently that one of those doors could fund him for the rest of his life.

His father turns him around with a hand on his shoulder. He’s a stoic man, well-built and with the smooth complexion that he and his son share. His mother, on the other hand, is all sharp edges where his father is soft. His father tucks a stray piece of hair back into place behind Yuchan’s ear.

“This is your last chance, Yuchan,” he says, voice low so as not to be overheard by the guards on either side of the doors. “Do _not_ ruin this for us.” Yuchan sighs again.

“Fine.” His parents look as satisfied as they ever do with him, which is: not very. His mother looks like she’s going to say something else, but then the doors begin to slide open and the three of them scramble back into place as a voice from the throne room heralds their arrival.

“Announcing the Lord Kang Yuchan, son of the Marquis and Marquess Kang of Bonides.”

The light in the throne room is blinding for a moment before Yuchan’s eyes adjust and he steps forward into the opulent space, leaving his parents in the foyer behind him. The walls are almost entirely windows and every surface is shining gold, including the throne room and the man on it — Prince Donghun of Reylia.

_He’s pretty_ , is the first thing Yuchan notices as the room comes into focus. The second thing he notices is that there are courtiers scattered all around the throne room, strangely-shaped suits and gowns and garments somewhere in-between the two and they’re all staring right at him. He swallows, hard, heels clicking on the shiny floors as he takes a few more steps forward.

“Your highness,” he says, dropping to a knee and bowing low. A wave of tittering goes through the crowd.

“Lord Kang Yuchan. I trust your travels were comfortable?” The prince’s voice is low, sonorous, surprisingly quiet. Yuchan straightens but stays on one knee, clasps his hands behind his back to keep himself from fidgeting.

“They were, thank you.”

“Good.” The prince rises from his throne, strides down the shallow steps until he’s just a foot from Yuchan. He’s slightly shorter than Yuchan, but still imposing, regal in his angular robes of gold and purple and blue. “I admit, you’re not what I expected.”

Yuchan bristles at the cold judgement in the prince’s voice — he _knows_ that his reputation isn’t exactly spotless, but he’s still a noble. He takes a breath and keeps his features pleasant and neutral as he can as he gazes up at Prince Donghun.

“I apologize, your highness.” The prince laughs, and the crowd of courtiers laugh with him.

“I suppose it could be worse,” he muses. Yuchan freezes when Prince Donghun reaches forward suddenly and grips him by the chin, turning him this way and that. The feeling of the court’s collective eyes on him intensifies. It feels like he’s a beast at auction, a piece of meat or a trinket being appraised for its worth.

Without thinking, Yuchan shakes his head out of the prince’s grip, standing and stepping back. The court gasps at the misstep and Yuchan’s heart leaps into his throat — _he’s fucked it all up, hasn’t he?_ But he risks a look at the prince’s face and is surprised to see not anger but intrigue in his dark eyes, a charmed set to his quirked lips. Like he’s delighted that Yuchan’s fighting back. _Huh._ Yuchan takes a chance and bows at the waist.

“Apologies, my prince,” he says, and now he risks his trademark hundred-watt grin when he looks up from below his eyelashes. “You surprised me.”

When their eyes meet this time, there’s a heat in it that sets a fire low in Yuchan’s gut. The prince grins back at him before turning.

“Lieutenant Park,” he says, and a guard steps out of the ranks. “Please show Lord Yuchan to his quarters.” He grips Yuchan’s chin again, but this time Yuchan lets him, throwing in a wink for good measure.

The prince smiles, sharp, before dismissing him.

—

Lieutenant Park — _Junhee_ , he insists — doesn’t shut up for a single moment as he leads Yuchan to the quarters of the Prince-Consort. He’s pretty, Yuchan has to admit, all angled cheekbones and an air of dignified mystery — at least, until he opens his mouth. He’s the kind of man that Yuchan would sidle up to in a seedier spaceport and make eyes at until he came back to Yuchan’s hotel room to fuck his brains out.

_Alas_ , he thinks as Junhee makes yet another in a series of terrible jokes. _Now he’s engaged._ They finally reach his new quarters at the end of another long, elaborate hallway, behind another door made with _real wood._

“Here we are!” Junhee says, pushing the door open to reveal a huge room dominated by a large, plush bed with dark velvet curtains draped artfully around the bedposts. Yuchan’s sure he’s gawking, and Junhee laughs at his expression. “I know, it’s a lot. You’ll get used to it.”

Junhee shows him around the quarters — the main room with the bed and a table, the huge closet and the full length mirror. The bathroom, at the center of which is a marbled bathtub so big it could fit six people, easy. Yuchan catches Junhee looking at it longingly and grins.

“We could try it out, if you like,” he purrs. It’s totally on instinct, the flirting — the man is pretty and _there_ and it’s _fun_. Not to mention, in just a day or so Yuchan’s going to be married and he’ll never get to flirt with cute boys again, so he’ll take it while it lasts.

Junhee’s eyebrows shoot up and he takes a step back, eyes darting to the door, where — 

Prince Donghun is standing in the entryway of the bathroom, arms folded and a picture of stormy anger on his handsome face. Yuchan swallows, hard, his entire body freezing up.

“Your highness, I —”

“Don’t,” he says, voice cold and commanding. Yuchan shivers at it, despite himself. The prince takes a deep breath. “Lieutenant Park, come with me. As for _you_ , Lord Yuchan —” and _oh_ , his eyes are daggers, “— you’ll stay put until someone comes to fetch you.”

Before Yuchan can say a word, Prince Donghun pivots sharply on his heel and leaves, taking Junhee with him and slamming the door as he goes, leaving Yuchan completely alone in the opulent room.

—

Yuchan spends the next few hours pacing the perimeter of his quarters, opening drawers and closets. It’s almost entirely bare — probably because he’ll be expected to move into the prince’s chambers after the wedding in just a day’s time. Usually, the Prince-Consort would stay here while the marriage was being arranged, possibly for months or years, but their marriage process had been expedited (to say the least) due to political unrest for both their families.

It’s well into the evening when Yuchan’s finally fed up with waiting. He’s not the type to sit quietly and do as he’s told and, besides, maybe the prince will like it if Yuchan takes initiative and apologizes first.

He slips out of his room, striding down the hallway like he already owns the place. He convinces another guard to tell him where the prince’s quarters are with a mix of bravado and persuasion — the girl doesn’t really have a reason to deny him anyways, seeing as he’s the Prince-Consort and all.

The prince’s quarters are behind another opulent wooden door, but Yuchan notices a heightened number of security cameras and suspiciously placed panels that likely hide a variety of automated offensive systems designed to catch any malicious intruders. Hopefully it will let him through, though he can’t be certain. He steels himself, takes a breath, and knocks.

It’s a long minute before the prince slides open the door, still in his formalwear. His eyes widen at the sight of Yuchan before he schools his expression back into one of disinterested nonchalance. He turns away, back to the screen he must have been looking at before Yuchan arrived. The door slides shut behind Yuchan with a pneumatic hiss.

“I thought I told you to stay put.”

“I’m not very good at following directions,” Yuchan retorts, before adding, “your highness.”

“Clearly, seeing as it took you less than a day to start sleeping with the palace staff.”

“I wasn’t _actually_ going to —”

“Then, tell me, what _were_ you planning to do with Lieutenant Park?” The prince whirls around and his eyes are steely cold with anger. “They told me about you, you know. About your… indiscretions.” Yuchan snorts.

“Come on, just say it. They told you I’m a slut.” The prince raises an eyebrow. “What? It’s true! I’m not sorry about it either.”

“Then we don’t have anything to talk about,” says the prince, turning back to the flickering holoscreen. A clear dismissal if there ever was one, but Yuchan’s never been one to back down, stepping closer instead.

“Listen, your highness —”

“Donghun.”

“Excuse me?” The prince turns around with a sigh and he looks suddenly _tired_ , like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“My name is Donghun. If we’re going to be married, you might as well drop the ‘your highness.’”

“Donghun, I…” Yuchan realizes that he doesn’t quite know what to say. The prince — _Donghun —_ is waiting expectantly, and Yuchan catches the glint of hurt in his eyes. _Oh. Shit._ Yuchan realizes all at once that isn’t worried about the political or social implications of Yuchan sleeping around, but rather… he actually _wants_ Yuchan’s fidelity. A wave of something soft and unfamiliarly fond goes through Yuchan, and without thinking he reaches forward to take Donghun's hand.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and he puts as much sincerity into it as he possibly can. “I’m… still getting used to the idea of getting married.” Something in Donghun's eyes softens and Yuchan smiles as earnestly as he knows how. “I might fuck up, but I want to try. For you.”

Donghun sighs, dropping Yuchan’s hand and collapsing into a plush armchair a few steps away. He pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers. Yuchan waits in the tense silence.

“I need more than just _trying_ , Yuchan,” he says, dropping his hand to stare at him with those sad, piercing eyes. “I’m not the kind of man who’s capable of sharing. At least, not yet.” The way he says it sends a shiver down Yuchan’s spine. He’s used to life of bed-hopping, of swapping partners nightly and not belonging to anyone, but a flame in the pit of his stomach makes him want to drop to his knees and pledge himself entirely to this prince. To his… to his future _husband_.

“I promise,” Yuchan says, and Donghun hums, consideringly.

“Come here,” he commands, and Yuchan doesn’t think twice before obeying, stepping over to stand in front of the armchair. He yelps in surprise when Donghun tugs him down by the hand to straddle his lap, gripping Yuchan’s hips with firm hands. The prince’s thighs feel strong, well-muscled under his ass, and his grip is tight. Yuchan shivers at the intensity in his gaze.

“People have promised that before,” he says, and his thumbs dig into the line of Yuchan’s hips and he bites back an embarrassing whine. “I refuse to be hurt like that again. What makes you any different?”

“I don’t know,” Yuchan says, instinctively — it’s the honest truth. “But I want to try.”

Donghun stares at him for another long moment, scrutiny and desire in his eyes, and Yuchan wants to squirm, wants to avert his eyes but he stays strong and holds his gaze.

“You should know,” the prince says, eventually, “that what I want from you is more than just loyalty.” One of his hands skates up Yuchan’s torso, over his chest to rest at his collarbone. “When we’re together, I want you to be mine. To do what I say and take what I give you.” 

Yuchan shudders slightly at the thought — images spring to his mind unbidden, of rope and chains and Donghun's commanding presence as he puts Yuchan on his knees, in his place —

“I want that,” he says, all in a rush, blood rushing to his face when Donghun smiles wide at his earnestness. Yuchan’s breath stutters in his chest — it’s the smile of a predator who’s gotten _exactly_ what he wants.

“You promise to be mine, and only mine?”

“ _Yes_ ,” breathes Yuchan.

“Then get on the bed.”

Yuchan scrambles to obey, the warmth of arousal rushing through his veins. The bed is huge, bigger than the one even in his quarters. His breath comes light and quick as he turns to face Donghun, kneeling with his hands loose in his lap.

The prince steps forward, a hunger in his eyes that sends a shudder down Yuchan’s spine. He strokes over Yuchan’s stubbled cheek with one delicate hand. Yuchan leans into the warm touch.

“To start,” Donghun murmurs. “While you’re here, you call me ‘sir’ or ‘my lord’, is that clear?”

“Yes,” Yuchan murmurs, eyes still closed. They shoot open when Donghun grips his chin instead, hard.

“Yes, _what?_ ”

“Yes, sir.” Donghun smiles, sharp.

“That’s better.” He goes back to stroking over Yuchan’s cheek. “If you need me to stop, the word is ‘orchid’. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now here’s what’s going to happen.” The prince reaches up to comb his fingers through Yuchan’s hair as he speaks, deceptively gentle. “You’ve apologized, but I think you still need to be punished. Twenty lashes should be enough.”

The breath goes out of Yuchan in a rush at the thought of the delicious, stinging pain such a thrashing will bring. Donghun notices, his smile going hungry and vicious.

“Oh, you like that idea? Maybe we should add more. Maybe I should spank you first, get you warmed up for me before I whip you. How does that sound?”

“It… it sounds good, sir.” Yuchan licks his lips, mouth suddenly dry.

“And then, I’ll let you beg to choke on my cock. Maybe, if you’re _really_ good, I’ll let you come.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good boy.” He fists Yuchan’s hair suddenly, yanks it back so Yuchan has to crane his neck, exposing the vulnerable line of his throat. Donghun kisses him hard and rough, claiming him in the press of lips. He pulls back with a sharp bite to Yuchan’s lower lip, and the only thing stopping Yuchan from chasing the feeling is Donghun's hand clenched tight in his hair. Donghun laughs, low and mean, letting him go.

“Clothes off.”

While Yuchan scrambles to do so, Donghun opens a closet in the corner and starts pulling items out — Yuchan can’t quite see inside, but he can guess when the prince pulls out lube and a flogger and sets them on the bedside table. Yuchan finishes stripping as fast as he possibly can and waits, shivering at the edge of the bed, naked and exposed. He can feel Donghun's eyes on him, appraising, burning.

“Head up,” Donghun orders, stepping into his space, and Yuchan tilts his chin up to stare straight ahead over the prince’s shoulder. He can’t help but whimper when he realizes what Donghun intends. He clasps a simple leather collar around his neck, just tight enough for Yuchan to feel its constant presence but not tight enough to choke him (yet). And a final touch — a matching leather leash that hooks into the ring at the hollow of Yuchan’s throat. Donghun keeps the other end wound around his wrist tight.

“Oh, look at you, baby,” Donghun murmurs. “You’re already _dripping_ for me and I haven’t even punished you yet.”

Yuchan realizes distantly that he’s painfully, achingly hard, precum smearing where his cock strains up against his stomach. He can’t help but whine when Donghun strokes a single finger over him, too light and teasing to give him any real relief. The prince laughs, cruel.

“Get up here,” he says, moving to perch on the edge of the bed and gesturing toward his lap expectantly. A rush of arousal goes through Yuchan when he realizes where he’s meant to go. The position is demeaning, bent over Donghun’s lap like a misbehaving child. It’s made worse by the fact that he’s naked while Donghun is still fully clothed, and the prince’s trousers rub rough against Yuchan’s cock when he settles face-down over Donghun's lap. Donghun palms his ass roughly, appraising. He still has the leash tight in his other hand.

“Tell me how much you want it, baby.” Shame and lust run through Yuchan’s body in equal measure at the command. A Yuchan of another time would have bristled at that, would have talked back or made some witty retort but now all he wants to do is give himself over, to give in entirely. He shudders.

“I want it so bad, sir.” Donghun hums, expectant. Yuchan feels the blood rush to his face even as he keeps begging. “My lord, please, _please_ , I need it, I need to be punished, sir, _please_ —”

“Such a slut,” Donghun says, taunting.

The first slap is hard, landing square on Yuchan’s ass, and then they’re raining down in a constant, steady stream. Yuchan manages to stay still for the first few, taking them quietly, but as it continues he can’t help but squirm on the prince’s lap. He can’t tell if he wants to move toward or away from the pain, the sharpness of each spank awful and delicious all at once. Donghun laughs.

“I can’t believe they’d give me such a slut for a husband,” he jeers, palm landing hard on the inflamed skin. Yuchan groans, writhes. The motion grinds his aching cock against the prince’s thigh, still fully clothed. “Did they give you to me because they knew I could keep you in line? Keep you fucked so well that you stay out of trouble?”

“Yes, sir, keep me, I’m _yours —”_

“You’re mine,” Donghun murmurs, yanking at the leash as he brings his hand down as hard as he can, pulling Yuchan in conflicting directions so his body doesn’t know where to go.

“ _Yours_ ,” he breathes.

And then he’s being yanked up by the hips and off Donghun's lap. The prince shoves him face-first onto the bed, so he’s bent at a right angle with his upper body flat on the mattress and his legs over the side with his feet on the floor.

“What did I say before? Ten lashes?”

“Twenty, my lord.” Donghun laughs, reaching over to snag the flogger off the bedside table.

“So honest. Good. Twenty it is, then. Hands above your head.” Yuchan shivers and obeys, clenching his fists in the bedsheets and whining as Donghun slides the cool leather strands over his shoulders, down his back, over the inflamed skin of his ass. “Here’s how this’ll go: I’ll keep count and you’ll thank me for each lash until we’re done.”

“Yes, sir.”

The first lash lands across his back hard in searing lines of pain. He groans, low, can faintly hear Donghun's murmured, _one._

“Thank you, my lord.”

The next lands, _two_ , and then the next, _three_. _Four, five,_ _six,_ and _seven_ come in quick succession. Yuchan thanks him after each one, voice growing shakier with each blow. He can feel long welts starting to form on his skin.

“Eight,” Donghun says. _Nine. Ten_.

“Thank… thank you, sir,” he whimpers. Donghun laughs, yanks on the leash hard.

“Are you starting to understand your place, baby?” Yuchan answers with a whine. “Tell me.”

“I’m yours, I’m all yours, sir, only yours —”

He’s cut off by the bite of the flogger, cutting into the welts already rising across his back. The next four go quick, as quick as Yuchan can stammer out his thanks for each blow. They reach fifteen in a haze, Yuchan’s words slurring and Donghun's breath coming faster for the effort of the flogging. Yuchan’s squirming incessantly now, held in place only by the leash and his grip on the bed sheets, but he can’t help but writhe every time the flogger cuts into his burning skin. It’s awful, it’s _wonderful_ , it’s exactly what he deserves.

“Sixteen,” Donghun pants.

“Thank you, sir,” Yuchan manages through the pain. His eyes burn and to his embarrassment, he feels tears starting to drip down his cheeks. He sobs when the next three blows fall, crying in earnest now and babbling his thanks in a constant stream of garbled words.

“That’s nineteen,” says the prince. “Have you learned your lesson?”

“Yes, yes, sir, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, thank you, I’m yours —”

The last lash falls like streaks of fire across his abused back and Yuchan can barely help from crying out through his tears, shuddering and sobbing into the mattress.

“Good boy, you took that so well,” soothes Donghun, dropping the flogger back on the bedside table and stroking over the inflamed skin of Yuchan’s back and ass. “Down on the floor for me, baby. On your knees.”

Yuchan obeys almost without thinking, sliding down onto the floor and gazing up at his prince with hazy, red-rimmed eyes. Donghun perches on the edge of the bed, pulling Yuchan in by the leash to kneel between his spread knees.

“I believe you promised to beg for my cock,” he says, undoing the fly of his trousers with his free hand and taking himself out. His cock is beautiful, thick and velvety-hard and Yuchan wants nothing more in this moment than to get his mouth on him, to feel his prince in his throat, using him.

“ _Please_ ,” he breathes, the words coming out almost without conscious thought. “Please, let me suck you, I want it so bad, I’ll make it good for you, sir, _please_ —”

“Shh,” Donghun soothes, wrapping Yuchan’s hair around his hand and getting a good grip. “I’ll give the slut what he wants.”

He pulls Yuchan forward by the hair, the sting of it making him gasp, and then he’s close enough to get his lips around him. He’s hot against the roof of his mouth, heavy and salty on his tongue and it’s _perfect_ , it feels like all he’s ever wanted.

Donghun fucks his throat until it’s raw, until Yuchan’s choking and gagging around him and he can’t breathe and there are tears streaming down his cheeks. Donghun keeps his grip hard and tight in his hair, other hand still holding the leash taut, a steady stream of filth spilling from his full, open lips.

Yuchan’s never felt this _taken_ , this utterly and overwhelmingly possessed by another person. Here, choking on Donghun’s cock, he isn’t a lord or a noble or a misbehaving son but only a consort, a toy for use, a kept boy to be contained in these lavish chambers solely to serve his prince.

Donghun seems close to coming, thrusting harder and faster and rougher into Yuchan’s open, abused throat. Yuchan forces his eyes open, looks up at Donghun through his wet eyelashes. The prince’s head is tossed back, the line of his throat — visible above his collar — enchanting, a fine sheen of sweat on his skin.

“Such a good slut, taking me so well,” he purrs, and Yuchan’s eyes slip shut. He groans around Donghun's length, sending vibrations into his skin, and that’s what tips the prince over the edge. He comes hard and hot down Yuchan’s throat, pulling him in and choking him until he’s completely spent. Yuchan swallows through it as best he can, sloppy and wet, but he can’t do much more than kneel there and take it until Donghun is done.

After what feels like hours but must have been seconds, Donghun yanks Yuchan off of him by the hair, his softening cock popping out from between his swollen, shiny lips. Yuchan breathes hard, like he’s just run a mile, jaw aching and throat ragged.

There’s a sudden change in the air between them, Donghun stroking over his hair gently instead of gripping, soothing whispers as Yuchan catches his breath. He’s still feeling floaty, hazy from being taken so completely. He realizes distantly that he’s still painfully hard, leaking against his stomach.

“Come up here, baby,” murmurs Donghun, tugging at the leash gently. Yuchan groans as he stands, legs aching from kneeling so long and back and ass still burning — he feels like one big bruise. Donghun moves to lay back against the headboard amidst the piles of pillows, tugging Yuchan to straddle his thighs and settle into his lap.

“You did so well for me,” the prince murmurs, running smooth fingertips over Yuchan’s chest, down his stomach and hips. Yuchan whimpers when Donghun takes him in hand, stroking him off steady and slow. “See how easy it is when you belong to me? I’ll give you everything you need, baby, everything you want, ‘long as you stay mine.”

“Yours, all yours,” stutters Yuchan, the response almost automatic. It doesn’t take much, with how long he’s been on-edge — he throws back his head and spills all over Donghun's hand.

Donghun pulls him in close, soothes him with murmurs and a hand stroking over his still-inflamed back. Yuchan shakes in his grasp for long minutes, breathing hard and coming down off the high of complete obedience, of being owned so fully and absolutely. Soon though, he starts to feel a little more grounded, a little more stable and back to his old self.

He sits back, finally, brushing his hair out of his face and stretching, still firmly in Donghun's lap. Donghun keeps his hold on Yuchan’s waist, smiles up at him with a fond half-smile on his handsome features. Yuchan grins back.

“Well, am I forgiven?” he jokes, leaning in to press a short kiss to Donghun's cheek. The prince laughs, delighted.

“I guess you are,” he replies, reaching up to stroke over Yuchan’s cheek before tugging at the collar. “Want this off?”

“I thought I was supposed to be your kept boy,” Yuchan teases, raising an eyebrow. “I figured I’d wear it to the wedding.” It’s a joke but Donghun's eyes flash, just for a moment, and Yuchan swallows hard.

“We’ll see,” the prince says, but he unhooks it all the same. “You can’t wear it into the bath, though, and we both need a shower.”

“I won’t argue with that,” says Yuchan, rolling to the side and stretching out beside Donghun. He winces at the sheets on his raw back but the pain fades in a few moments. Donghun props himself up on one elbow, looking down at Yuchan. He runs a hand over Yuchan’s stomach, suddenly serious.

“Listen,” he begins. “I put on a show for the court, but... you don’t have to marry me, if you don’t want to. I won’t force you.” Yuchan smiles, looking up at his fiance’s face, the gorgeous line of his soft cheeks and his kind eyes — not at all the man who sat on the public throne and passed judgement over the court.

“I _want_ to,” Yuchan replies, leaning up on his elbows to catch Donghun's lips in a long, lingering kiss. He pulls back, grin full of mischief. “Besides, who’d have thought I’d snag a husband this pretty?”

Donghun tosses his head back and laughs and laughs and laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> comments/kudos always appreciated!
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dopaminekeeper)! 18+ only pls


End file.
